StepsbyStep Guide: Fly Tying for Beginners The Adams Dry Fly

Featuring : Savage Flies

The Adams is a classic dry fly used in fly fishing, It was created by Leonard Halladay in 1922 and named after his friend Charles F. Adams.

The Adams fly is known for its versatility and effectiveness in imitating various mayfly species. It typically has a gray or brown body, grizzly hackle, and wings made from grizzly hackle tips or synthetic materials.

This fly is widely used by anglers world wide and is considered a go-to pattern in many trout fishing situation.

Below is a step by step guide to tying and adams dry.

Go watch the video from Savage Flies at the bottom 👇

Step-by-Step Guide:

Materials Needed:

• Hook: Dry fly hook (e.g., Mustad 94840 or similar)

• Thread: Black or brown thread (6/0 or 8/0)

• Tail: Brown and grizzly hackle fibers

• Body: Muskrat fur or a mixture of gray and brown dubbing

• Wing: Grizzly hackle tips or synthetic material like poly yarn

• Hackle: Grizzly hackle

Steps:

1. Secure the Hook:Start by placing the hook in the vise and securing it with the thread. Begin the thread wraps near the eye of the hook and wrap backward, stopping just above the hook barb.

1. Create the Tail:Take a small bunch of brown and grizzly hackle fibers. Measure them to be about the length of the hook shank, and tie them in at the base of the tail. The tail should be sparse.

2. Dubbing the Body:Apply a thin layer of muskrat fur or the gray and brown dubbing to the thread. Wrap the dubbing around the hook shank, creating a tapered body. Stop the dubbing about two-thirds of the way up the shank.

3. Prepare the Wing:Select two grizzly hackle tips or synthetic wing material. The wing should be about the length of the hook shank. Tie in the wing at the front of the dubbed body, making sure it extends slightly beyond the hook eye.

4. Tie in the Hackle:Tie in a grizzly hackle feather at the front of the body, just behind the wing.

5. Wrap the Hackle:Palmer the hackle feather backward, making evenly spaced wraps. Stop wrapping just in front of the wing, and secure the hackle with a few wraps of thread.

6. Trim Excess Hackle: Trim the excess hackle tip, leaving a small tag for tying off.

7. Finish the Fly: Whip finish the fly by making a few wraps of thread behind the eye of the hook. Trim the thread, and your Adams fly is ready for action.

Remember, fly tying may require some practice to master the techniques. Adjustments can be made to suit your preferences, and you can experiment with different materials and colors to match local insect patterns.

Watch below 👇

From: Savage Flies

Probably the most popular dry fly of all time, the Adams dry fly is a good one to learn for any tier. If you can tie an Adams, you can tie any number of mayfly dry flies and many of the Catskill fly patterns.

Hook: #12-22 dry fly Thread: Black Tail: Grizzly and brown hackle fibers Body: Gray dubbing (original is muskrat) Wings: Grizzly hackle tips Hackle: Grizzly and brown dry fly hackle Savage Flies is a project with the mission of encouraging and teaching fly tying to as many people as possible.

The channel is named after one of my western Maryland home waters, the Savage River. I've been uploading at least three new videos a week (usually Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday). Thanks for stopping by. Please let me know in the comments if you have any tips or tricks that could help me or anyone else watching.

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